Today we learned of an inspector general’s report on Veterans Affairs medical facilities, which found that 1,700 veterans were kept on unofficial waiting lists at a Phoenix VA hospital and waited an average of 115 days for treatment. Additionally, the report found that information was manipulated to conceal the length of time patients waited for medical attention. The report also found the problem to be “systemic” and not limited to the Phoenix facility. At least forty veterans are reported to have died while waiting for treatment. Our military volunteers knew when they signed up that there was a chance they would become casualties in a foreign land, but they did not expect to become a statistic once they had returned safely home. The news out of the VA keeps getting worse, and it should enrage all Americans. These veterans being neglected and ignored have sacrificed so much to protect our freedoms and deserve much more than this from their country. This is an issue that should know no political party – it is neither a Democratic nor a Republican problem. It is an American problem, and one which deserves a vigorous and thorough examination to root out the causes. I support a complete investigation by the Department of Justice, which has the necessary expertise and is best positioned to get results. Many have called for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign. In my view, the secretary serves at the pleasure of the president. It is up to the president to determine if Secretary Shinseki is equipped and capable of leading an agency that has suffered such a scandal and a loss of public confidence.
Posted on: Wed, 28 May 2014 22:13:02 +0000
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